Current collector



Patented Mar. 28, 1939 CURRENT COLLECTOR William Schaake, Pittsburgh, ;Pa., assignor to Westinghouse Electric -& Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa.,. a corporation of Pennsylvania Application'March 20, 1937, Serial No. 132 077 1201211115. (or 191-591) My invention refers, generally, to overhead rotate in a plurality of planes. To engage a trolley systems, andit has reference in particular to a current collecting device for use on trolley poles of electrically operated vehicles, such for trolley wire, a slider shoe may be removably secured to the swivel body by a single through bolt passing through transverse openings in the swivel Clamping means associated with the-' 5 example, as trolleybusses. body. 5

It has been found advantageous in overhead single through "bolt are adapted upon tightening trolley systems to provide for the ready renewal of the bolt to engage longitudinal grooves in the of all parts most subjected to wear. In this reslider shoe and secure the slider shoe in fixed spect light and easily removable wear plates have 'relation'to the swivel body member. The slider no been utilized for trolley frogs and crossings, while shoe maybe removed by loosening the through to removable underruns and approaches have been bolt, which frees theclamping members from the devised for use with trolley wire splicers and grooves while retaining them in association with hangers. V the swivel body.

Trolley slider shoes have purposely been made For a more complete understanding of the of relatively. soft materials in order to prevent nature and scope of my invention, reference may2 '15 excessive wear of theoverhead system, which is behad tothe-followingdetailed'description, taken relatively .difiicult to install and expensive to in connection-with the'accompanying drawing, in maintain. As slider shoes constructed of soft which: materials areprone'to wear rapidly, it may be Figure 1 is a side'elevational view partly in seen that slidershoes of such design must often section of a current collector device embodying2O be replaced. It is therefore desirable to facilitate the-principal features of my invention; and, the removal of a worn slider shoe from a current Fig. 2 is asectional view of the current colleccollector or trolley pole. head andits replacement tor device of Fig. 1 taken alo t e es IIII by a new slider shoe. of Fig. 1. I

.25 It is, therefore, generally an object of my in- Referringmoreparticularly to Figs. 1 and 2 of125 vention to provide .a ,currentcollector device for the drawing, the reference numeral Ill denotes,

a trolley pole which shall have readily renewgenerally, a trolley p head Comprising C pable wearing parts. ingmeans 'l '1 adapted to secure the pole head to a A further object of my invention is toprovide trolley pole l2 of an electrically operated vehicle 0 a current collector for a trolley pole wherein the (not shown), a fixed bearing membe l3 S p-I slider shoe element is detachably'secured thereto ported by the clampin eans, and a rotatable by clamping means. swivelmember I4 to which-is secured a slider shoe A yet further object of my invention is to pro- 15, adapted o engage trolley W e '6. vide clamp means which may be assembled a, In order to mount "the swivel member l4 rounit with the body of the current collector device, b y Onllhe D head the'bearing mbe fi for securing a renewable slider shoe in the cury be provided With a Vertical Opening rent collector device. in which may be secured a bearing bushing 22,

Another object of my invention is to provide wherein a stem member 24 is disp to tatefor utilizing a flat spring member formaintaining The stem member 24 may comprise generally a electrical contact between the slider shoe andthe cylind a bearing 90143101125 te min ted at the 40 fixed body portion of the current collector :device. upper end by a bearing flange 26,'which is dis- Another object of myinvention isto provide a posed t e the upper end of t e bearing current collector devicefor a trolley pole "having bushing The stem'member 24 s provided at a swivel member provided with oppositely -disits upper end with a bearing segment 28 to engage posed recesses withclamp members positioned in the swivel body I l inrotatable relation. A con- -45 the recesses and actuated by a-sin'gle'bolt'member tral opening in the bearing Segment 3 and to detachably secure aslider shoe-to the swivel Stem/24 forms a well wherein a supply of lubrimember. cant may be'placed. In order to maintain the Other objects will, in part, be obvious, and in stem 24 firmly in the bearing bushing 22 and yet part, appear hereinafter. permit rotation, the lower end of the stem 24 may 50 In a general application of a preferred form-of be threaded and provided with a castellated nut my invention, a current collector or trolley pole 30 and bearing washers 3|. head may be provided with a swivel 'bodymember The bearing segment 28 is machined on the mounted on a vertically disposed rotatable-stem upper surface, and at the edges 34 and 35 on in a fixed portion of the head and adaptedto the under side to provide arcuate bearing sur- 55 faces. These surfaces 34 and 35 are disposed to engage inwardly projecting arcuate wear flanges 38 and 39 which are provided on either side of a longitudinal recess on the under side of the swivel body member l4, and so provide for associating the swivel member and fixed bearing member in movable relation.

An arcuate wear plate 40, which is machined on its upper side to provide a bearing surface for the upper surface of the bearing segment 28, is disposed to engage downwardly extending bosses 4| on the slider shoe l5. The downwardly projecting bosses 42 of the slider shoe [5 rest against the seating surfaces 43 on the outer ends of the swivel body member I4 to support the slider shoe I5 in the swivel body l4.

It may therefore be seen from Fig. 1 that the slider shoe l5 engages both ends of the swivel body member I4 and the arcuate wear plate 40, and from Fig. 2 that the bearing segment 28 of the rotatable stem 24 is positioned between the bearing surfaces of the arcuate wear plate and the swivel member. The stem, arcuate wear plate and swivel member may be held in assembled relation by means of a bolt 44 extending transversely through suitable openings in the recessed sides of the swivel member and having a nut 45 in engagement therewith.

In order to provide for securing the slider shoe IE to the swivel member I in such manner that it may be readily detached therefrom, clamp members 46 are used. The clamp members 46 are carried by the bolt 44 and are positioned in the recesses 41' on opposite sides of the swivel. The slider shoe I5 is provided on opposite sides with longitudinal grooves 48 positioned to receive the jaws of the clamp members when the bolt 44 is tightened. The bolt 44, by passing through the transverse bore 49 of the pin 50 which is provided with a snug fit in the central opening 5| of the arcuate wear plate 40, maintains the wear plate 46 in operating relation with the swivel body l4, and at the same time secures the slider shoe IE to the swivel body [4.

A fiat spring member 53 may be positioned between the bearing segment 28 and the arcuate wear plate 40 with its ends sprung inwardly to bear against the underside of the slider shoe 15 to provide for conducting current from the slider shoe to the stem member 24, which is connected to the cable terminal 6| by a shunt 62.

A unit assembly, comprising the slider shoe l5, swivel body l4, arcuate wear plate 40, clamp members 46, bolt member 44 and the pin 56, is thereby provided in which the slider shoe I5 is free to rotate about a horizontal axis with respect to the stem member 24, and about a plurality of axes with respect-to the fixed bearing member l3.

To facilitate in assembling the slider shoe l5 in the swivel body l4, downwardly extending side flanges 52 on the slider shoe l5 may be provided with an upwardly extending slot, forming guide fingers 54 at either side of the slot, which may readily be positioned about the bolt 44 to aline the shoe in the swivel. A fiange 55 about the bolt hole on a clamp member 46 may provide a snug fit about the nut 45 to prevent it from turning, To prevent separation of the nut 45 from the bolt, when loosened, a restriction 51 formed by slightly riveting the end of the bolt 44 may be provided.

In order to replace a worn slider shoe l5, it may be seen that the only necessary operations are to apply a socket wrench or other means to the head of the bolt 44, give it a few turns to re-- lease the clamping members 46 from the longitudinal grooves 48 in the slider shoe, and the worn slider shoe may then be lifted clear of the swivel body member M. A new slider shoe may readily be inserted merely by slipping it into place in the swivel body so that the downwardly extending guide fingers 54 of the slider shoe are positioned about the through bolt member 44 and tightening the clamp members 46 into the longitudinal grooves 48 of the slider shoe with a few turns of the through bolt member 44.

It may therefore be seen that in my invention I have provided for the ready removal of a worn slider shoe from a trolley pole head by means that are simple to operate and easy to manufacture. A minimum of operations is required to renew a worn trolley shoe and there are no loose parts to be lost or misplaced in the operation.

Since certain changes may be made in the above description and different embodiments of the invention may be made without departing from the spirit thereof, it is intended that all the matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be considered as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination in a current collector of a slider shoe having grooves in the sides thereof, and an assembly including a rotatable bearing stem, a swivel supported thereby and oscillative in a plurality of planes and clamping means associated with the'swivel adapted to engage said grooves in the slider shoe to secure the slider shoe to the swivel.

2. In a current collector for a trolley pole, the combination of, a fixed member, a rotatable stem, a swivel member mounted on the rotatable stem adapted to oscillate in a plurality of planes, a slider shoe having a plurality of longitudinal grooves therein, means including a single through bolt disposed to secure the swivel in association with the rotatable stem, and clamping means associated with said through bolt operable to engage the grooves in the slider shoe to maintain it in fixed relation with the swivel.

3. A current collector for a trolley pole comprising, in combination, a fixed member, a stem rotatably supported by the fixed member and adapted to rotate about a single axis, a swivel mounted on said stem and adapted to oscillate about a plurality of axes, clamp means associated with the swivel, means including a single through bolt adapted to maintain the stem, swivel and clamp means in unitary relation and a longitudinally grooved slider shoe disposed to be secured in operating relation with the swivel by said clamp means, said slider shoe being removable from the swivel without removal of the clamp means.

4. The combination in a current collector device of, a fixed member, a bearing stem rotatably supported by the fixed member, a swivel body oscillatively secured to the stem, a grooved slider shoe for engaging a trolley wire adapted to be secured to the swivel body, means including a single through bolt disposed to maintain the swivel body and the stem in operative relation, and a pair of clamp members associated with the through bolt and slider shoe grooves operable to secure the slider shoe to the swivel.

5. The combination in a current collector device of, a unitary assembly including a rotatable stem, a swivel member associated therewith, and

Cir

clamp means including a single non-removable through bolt adapted to secure the rotatable stern and swivel member in operating relation, and a slider shoe adapted to be detachably secured to the swivel by said clamp means, said slider shoe alone being removable upon loosening of said through bolt.

6. A current collector device comprising, a support stem, a swivel member oscillative with respect to the stem, a slider shoe provided with a plurality of grooves, a slidable conducting member disposed between the slider shoe and the stem to increase the conductivity therebetween, oppositely disposed clamp means associated with the swivel disposed to engage the grooves in the slider shoe, and means including a single transverse through bolt disposed to maintain the slider shoe, clamp means, swivel member and stem in operat ing relation.

7. In a current collector device the combination comprising, a fixed body member, a stem rotatably mounted therein, a swivel member mounted on said stem to oscillate about a plurality of axes, a grooved slider shoe adapted to be remo v ably secured in position on the swivel member, clamp meansrecessed in the swivel member disposed to engage a slider shoe groove, and means including a single non-removable through bolt adapted to secure the said stem, swivel member and slider shoe in operating relation, the slider shoe alone being removable without removal of said through bolt.

8. A current collector device comprising the combination of, a fixed bearing member, a rotatable stem disposed therein, a swivel member oscillatively disposed in relation to said stem, a slider shoe provided with a plurality of longitudinal side grooves, a clamp member recessed in 1 the side of the swivel and disposed to engage a longitudinal groove in the slider shoe, and means including a single through bolt adapted to maintain the slider shoe, swivel member and stem in operating relation, said slider shoe being removable upon release of said clamp members by loosening said through bolt.

9. A current collector device comprising, a fixed bearing member, a stem rotatably secured thereto, a swivel member carried by the stem oscillative in a plurality of planes 'with respect to the bearing member, a current collecting slider shoe having longitudinal lateral recesses therein, a flat conducting spring positioned between the slider shoe and the stem for increasing the conductivity therebetween, clamp means associated with the swivel member to engage lateral recesses of the slider shoe, and means including a single through bolt adapted to retain the swivel, I stem, and slider shoe in operating relation, the

slider shoe alone being removable by loosening the through bolt.

10. In a current collector device, in combination, a fixed mounting means, a swivel member supported thereby and oscillative in a plurality of planes, a slider shoe adapted to be removably secured to the swivel member, recessed clamp means associated with the swivel member, and means including a single transverse through bolt secured in the swivel member adapted to cooperate with the clamp means to secure the slider shoe, and the assembly of the swivel body and mounting means in operating relation with respect to each other, said slider shoe being removable without removal of the through bolt.

11. The combination in a current collector device of, a fixed member, a swivel member associated with the fixed member and disposed to oscillate in a plurality of planes, a slider shoe provided with downwardly extending positioning v flanges and longitudinal lateral grooves, and clamp means including a transverse through bolt associated with the swivel member disposed to engage the lateral slider shoe grooves and secure the slider shoe in relation tothe swivel member.

12. A current collector for an electric vehicle comprising, a fixed bearing member, a unitary assembly including a swivel member rotatably supported on the bearing member, a clamp member and a transverse bolt member for maintaining the swivel member and clamp member in operating relation, and a removable slider shoe adapted to be secured to the swivel member by engagement with the clamp member.

WILLIAM SCHAAKE. 

